Killybegs Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 (edited) Previous entries can be found on my blog. My current project is scratch building a pair of coaches in plasticard. I came across a great photo, in GWRJ, of a Prairie tank and a couple of coaches crossing the Worcester and Birmingham canal on 'my' bridge. A little research led me to believe that the coaches were ex GWR, a C83 non-corridor and a D132 non-corridoe brake. As I couldn't locate any suitable kits, I decided to scratch build them. The photo below shows progress to date. In the picture are the middle and inner skins, both 0.50mm thick. The middle layer will contain the glazing and the inner layer will hold it in place. The next job is to form the slight tumblehome on the middle layer by a spot of scraping and sanding. The 0.25 thick outer skin (not yet cut out) will then be fitted. This method of construction allows the coach to be painted prior to fitting the glazing. To be continued ....... Edited March 13, 2017 by Killybegs 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 It's funny how a problem encountered by someone else gets one thinking about one's own unsolved problems. I was reading paulprice's blog and the problems of streets that go straight into the backscene. I have the same problem on Worseter with the canal. The answer came to me in a flash - only twelve years late! A pair of lock gates just forward of the backscene, together with associated increase in ground level, will make a great scenic break, especially as the the railway bridge already forms a partial screen. I had already decided, before I got sidetracked on the coaches, that it was about time I progressed that end of the layout seeing as it has had no attention for over ten years! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted February 15, 2014 Author Share Posted February 15, 2014 One week on and the first coach is progressing. The sides were basically finished apart from glazing and door handles (which will be fitted post painting) prior to assembly and have been mated with the ends (which I am starting to detail). I won't finish the end detailing until the roof is made and fitted as they could get damaged in the process. Seats will be fitted once they arrive. I have fitted the sole bars and steps and will be moving on the the bracing, brake gear, battery boxes, etc. The mounts for the bogies have been made and fitted and two sets of Bill Bedford bogies have arrived in the post this week and await building. In the meantime, I have been using bogies off one of my Mark 1's that make up the Cornishman rake to check ride heights. Progress pic below: 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Well, the roof is now pretty well finished. I used the double skin technique as per Geoff Kent's article in MRJ. I have to admit it's not as easy as it sounds, maybe it takes a little practice. Anyway, I think it's just about acceptable. My roof is removable for the time being which I think made construction a bit easier but left the ends of the gutters vulnerable - two got broken off and will need repairing. I incorrectly drilled the holes for the ventilators on the centre line, whoops, so those have been filled with Milliput! Having got the roof to that point, I returned to the ends, one of which is now pretty well complete. The end of the roof will need tidying up a bit in due course. Those locating holes for the buffers will also need levelling up! I have also cut all the seats to size and packed them out a bit to get the levels and angles better. 16 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twright Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Very good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted February 25, 2014 Author Share Posted February 25, 2014 With the superstructure pretty well up together, I have turned my attention to the underframe of the C83. The trussing is soldered construction fabricated from 1mm brass angle. It was while checking the length of the cross braces against the model that I discovered that the solebars were 2mm too close together, oops! Moral, when you draw a guideline on the floor, remember which side of the solebar should be fixed! Amazingly, I managed to separate the sole bars intact from the floor complete with running board and refix them in the correct position. Soldering up the trussing on an etched brass kit is relatively easy as you can build it up from the sole bars, however, I didn't have that luxury and eventually made it up as a free standing cage that was then fixed in place with araldite. I raided my box of BR Mk1 detailing bits to assemble the brake gear, and used short lengths of plastic tube to represent the vacuum cylinders (you can't see that they are hollow from the side!). The dynamo also used plastic tube, the domed end being formed with milliput. I'm afraid the brake gear, along with the steam heating pipework is somewhat impressionist and doesn't bear to close inspection! The bogies were tackled next. These have Exactoscale wheels running in a Bill Bedford 9'0" LMS frame. I'm sure the GWR won't mind, they will be fine once the cosmetic sides are attached!The bogies rotate on a brass tube pillar let into the plastic card mounts on the underside of the floor - see photo below. I had to suitably enlarge the holes in the bolsters by drilling them out with my pillar drill. The bogies are retained with 6BA nuts and bolts, the latter being araldited in place through the floor. I am now waiting for cosmetic bogie sides and battery boxes to arrive. If the latter don't come soon, I will scratch build them as that will allow me to get on with the painting. 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 The battery boxes have now been fitted. GWRROB has been having a few problems assembling these Forogmore Confederacy etches, so I have given him a few tips. These can be found here 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 The non corridor C83 is finally nearing completion. It's had a coat of primer and it might even get a coat of paint before the week is out. 12 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Strange day. C83 was duly masked up, compressor and spray booth set up, airbrush connected up. Now where's that can of paint. Ah, there it is. Give it a good mix. Is it the correct colour? Check label again. B****r, it's BR Coach Crimson (as in Blood and Custard) not Maroon. Then I seem to recall that it was useless for Blood because it was too maroon. So, as everything was already set up. I decided to spray my preprimed test panel to see what it looked like. Too crimson. Oh well, I'm off to the UK next week, I can buy the proper colour. Very frustrating having to go through all the hassle of cleaning the airbrush, paint jars, etc. with nothing to show for it. Turned everything off and was just about to put everything away, when I noticed my test panel had gone considerably darker and was now looking like a pretty good match for what I wanted! Set everything up again and sprayed the coach. It's now drying and I am waiting to see how it turns out! There's always a bit of an argument about whether or not you need to prime plastic before airbrushing. While I had the airbrush out I gave a sheet of white plastic the same treatment as my test panel. Now that really did turn out scarlet! I wonder what it would be like on red undercoat. Maybe a bit warmer in colour. I must try it next time I have paint in the airbrush. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 Getting there. The coach still needs glazing, brasswork and weathering but it's beginning to look the part. That might have to wait until I get back from the UK. Off on a wee trip on Monday which will include attending one of Gordon Gravett's landscaping courses and visiting the Spring Steam Gala on the SVR. 19 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Back from my trip to the UK, so more progress on the non corridor coach Diag C83. The ends have been painted and the sides have been weathered and glazed and door and grab handles have been fitted (only to one side so far!). 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted March 26, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 26, 2014 Lovely work on your coach.I need to start my next one.A D95 hopefully. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twright Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Excellent work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bulwell Hall Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Very nice John - very 1950s BR (W)! Gerry Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Killybegs Posted March 27, 2014 Author Popular Post Share Posted March 27, 2014 Time for the big picture! The shot below shows the full length of the 'scenic section'. Obviously there is a long way to go. The loco shed will be in the centre foreground, as a guide, the Deeley tank is standing just outside the shed. There will be industrial buildings at each end providing scenic breaks. The nasty exposed polystyrene on the right is the result of me removing a high retaining wall as the latest plan is for the embankment to continue down to ground level where there will be some scrubby trees, pretty much like the prototype in Worcester. Up on the embankment, Totnes Castle on the up 'Cornishman' is about to pass Postlip Hall on a down fitted freight. The non corridor coach Diag. C83 is now finished and you can see that I am faffing around before getting on with the next job (a water crane enclosure for Brinkley). 22 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twright Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Looks great. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted April 11, 2014 Author Share Posted April 11, 2014 (edited) Having a few days to spare before disappearing off on my hols, I decided to make a start on the canal lock that, hopefully, will make a scenic break between the layout and the backscene (when I get around to that) in the area under the bridge. Elsewhere the break is provided by the embankment. The lock is based on a mirror image of this photo taken on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal last year. I decided to assemble the lock on a base that will fit flat on the surface of the existing canal, much easier than trying to work on it in-situ. The first job was to remove the existing canal edgings as appropriate, together with the road formation to the left of the canal which will now be realigned. Only the right hand wall is attached to the base at the moment, the other will be fixed when both are painted. Then I can get on with the gates and the surrounding areas. Edited April 11, 2014 by Killybegs 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted April 11, 2014 Share Posted April 11, 2014 Wow, I just been pointed this way by Jason, (Sandside) and had a quick look through. Now I 'm not into coach construction etc but I will be back later for a more in depth read. The long shot looks superb. :locomotive: Cheers, Andy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted June 2, 2014 Author Share Posted June 2, 2014 Now that I am back from my travels and have caught up with all the work that needed doing in the garden (it's amazing how much things grow in April and May!), it's back to the modelling. First job was the lock gates. These have been built from 4 x 4mm basswood, thinned down as necessary for the various cross sections, The planking is 0.5mm plywood to the full width of the gates but let into the back of the two uprights. This provided a good base to fit the other members. The gates will be stained to replicate well weathered and poorly maintained timber. The gap around the base of walls and gates should disappear once the assembly is finally glued in place. As the canal is being modelled in a rather run down condition, there will also be a few weeds to disguise the joint. The next project is to built the operating gear for the paddles. 13 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twright Posted June 2, 2014 Share Posted June 2, 2014 Excellent work. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted June 5, 2014 Author Share Posted June 5, 2014 Getting geared up. The lock gates have received a coat of paint and one set of paddle operating gear has been made and installed. Thank goodness I only have one more set to make. They are scratch built from styrene and brass rod. Building the the first one was only about a day's work but producing the drawings on Autocad, using only photographs off the web as a guide, took a lot longer. At least I finally worked out exactly how they operate. Of course, had I known last year that I was going to be modelling them, I could have measured a set when I was checking out the canal on my bike last autumn! 14 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted June 6, 2014 Author Share Posted June 6, 2014 (edited) I've just been taking a few photographs of the paddle gear for my web side and thought I might as well share one here. Ii's rather a cruel enlargement of something so small! Edited June 6, 2014 by Killybegs 11 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twright Posted June 6, 2014 Share Posted June 6, 2014 That's a very good representation, even so close up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold simonmcp Posted June 6, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 6, 2014 A very fine example of T'Cut gates. Glad to see you have modelled the overflow outfall as well, an often missed detail as I suspect very few people realise that canals actually have a flow to them. Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killybegs Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 A very fine example of T'Cut gates. Glad to see you have modelled the overflow outfall as well, an often missed detail as I suspect very few people realise that canals actually have a flow to them. Simon Thanks Simon. I'm intrigued, what exactly are T'Cut gates? John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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